Ask Lafeber

My lovebird laid an empty egg.

Hi! I thought my lovebird was a male but turns out its a female. She laid an egg a couple of weeks ago and then again a few days later. And now today. I changed her cages a couple of time and i think that worked for a while. Im travelling soon and he’ll be staying with aunt for two months so maybe that will help because of changing his environment. If this is the 3rd time should leave the egg or remove it? The first two time she didnt really care for it but i did remove it directly so im not sure. She likes to shred toothpicks a lott and sit under our island table. She has been doing this for a long time so i didnt expect it would be nesting behaviour. Im gonna keep the egg this time because im not sure when ill get a reply but hopefully soon because im travelling sunday and need to figure out what to do before i leave. Thank you!

Hi,

It is best to remove the egg or it will encourage nesting and more egg laying. Did you mean your bird laid an infertile egg? Because an empty egg would be a sign of a health issue and she should be seen by an Avian Vet. An egg from a single bird will still have a yolk and liquid, same as a chicken egg from the grocery store. You don’t want her to become a chronic egg layer, so remove the triggers such as shredding the toothpicks and getting under the table. I’ll give you some changes you can make that can help discourage nesting and egg laying.

Keep in mind that in the wild for breeding, they need longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The goal is to reverse these conditions.

Limit her light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening

Do not give her anything to use as a nest – no bird huts or tents, no box, bowl, etc. If she decides to sit in a food bowl, remove it and replace with smaller cups.

Do not give her anything to shred such as paper or cardboard.

Rearrange the toys in the cage frequently.

Move the cage to a different place in the room. Move the cage about once a week, or whenever she show signs of nesting – settling on the cage floor for example. This disrupts her idea of having a stable place to lay eggs and raise chicks.

If you feed a lot of fresh foods, stop offering any for a couple of weeks, and then only offer them in small amounts about 2 or 3 times a week. You can resume normal feeding later when the birds aren’t being hormonal.

When she is let out of the cage, do not let her get in any dark cozy places and don’t give her free roam. When you let her roam around, this mimics searching for a nesting site.

When you handle her, limit any petting to only the head and neck – do not pet a bird on the body. Only a bonded mate is allowed to groom the body. We can’t be a mate, so touching the body is off limits.

If there is no metal floor grate, then do not use any bedding or paper in the cage tray – leave it bare and clean it daily.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda